


Welcome To The Unknown

by MidnightLegend



Series: The Unknown [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Don't worry it makes sense in the story, Facing the unknown, Gen, NO Swearing, Sucked into a game, Way too long of a first chapter, Why do all of my stories feature the same people?, i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-03-07 12:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18872809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightLegend/pseuds/MidnightLegend
Summary: 4 players, 4 egos, two objectives.For the players? Escape, and maybe figure out why they're there in the first place.For the egos? Make sure the players don't accomplish their objective.





	1. The Ū̸̬n̷̢͆ḱ̴̢n̶̝͒o̷̟w̶̱̐n̸̤͆

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious game, with mechanics that don't make sense and literally sucks the players in? They don't know, but they're in trouble.

Honestly, no one knew why they thought this was a good idea.

With Jack's task, he must've been terrified, and he was.

With Mark's task, he had to have been out of breath by now, and he was surprised he wasn't.

Nate and Mat were trapped together, facing the unknown head on, and while they didn't seem scared, they were.

And all of this was for a reason they didn't know, and they thought it would be fun.

Boy, were they so wrong...

* * *

Jack had just finished recording when he recieved a call from Mark. Apparently, they had both recieved an invitation to try out a new game, Mark had been calling to check if Jack had gotten one.

For some odd reason, the sender of the letter wasn't addressed at all, so they had no clue where it came from, but the game described sounded fun.

_Jack,_

_Because of your rising success on Youtube, you've been invited to check out our new game, called Welcome To The Unknown._

_Basically, WTTU is a simulation designed to put the player in what appears to be a dangerous situation, but in all actuality is completely harmless. These situations could involve the player's fears, but we'd have no way of knowing that, as the simulation is completely randomly generated._

_Just know, you aren't the only one who's been invited. Other Youtubers such as Markiplier, Natewantstobattle, and Matpat have also recieved invites._

_Good luck._

He'd also recieved a code to download the game, and he did so immediately. Mark did the same, and then they both got into the game.

_You know what? I need a second video to make anyway._

So he got ready to record again, beginning right away with his intro.

"Top of the morning to ya laddies, my name is Jacksepticeye and welcome to a game called 'Welcome To The Unknown.'" He chuckled a little after saying the name, he was just too excited. "So, I'm going to assume the developers were the ones who sent me a letter giving me a free code for the game, so thanks to them! Only problem is, I have no clue who the developers are, so, that's a thing." Laughter that sounded too much like his own came from down the hallway. He did hear it, but tried to ignore it. "Also, they said that Mark, Nate, and Matpat got the game too, so they might be playing as well. Whatever, let's get into this, I'm excited!"

The laughter sounded again, this time a little louder, and a little harder for Jack to ignore. It was probably nothing anyway. The fans would be going crazy though, thinking it was ego hints (Although I must admit, I'm guilty of this myself).

Suddenly, he felt dizzy, like the room was spinning. That, combined with the abrupt headache, made recording a bit harder. Now normally, he'd stop right there, but he kept going, once it didn't feel like his brain was trying to push it's way out of his head.

His vision distorting though? That was a major red flag.

He turned off his recording set immediately, this wasn't part of the game, and tried to get up, only to be knocked out.

* * *

_"Hello? Can you hear me?"_

The panicked voice on what could only be a radio was familiar, but not immediately able to be recognized.

Well, that's what happens when you're unconscious after playing a weird game.

_"Hello? Please, someone answer me, anyone!"_

Jack woke up, surprisingly not feeling anything. He reached out, grasping at nothing until he grabbed the radio, which was more of a walkie-talkie. Pressing the button, he gave a message.

"Hello?" He waited for a response. It could be something else, but was that Mark on the other side?

 _"Jack? Oh thank God you're okay."_ Yep, definitely Mark.

"Okay is a bit of a strong word." Well, he seemed okay physically. But where was he?

 _"What do you mean? Is anything wrong on your end?"_ Great, now he accidentally worried Mark. Wait, he had a theory.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I think I know where we are though."

 _"Already? Or did you wake up before me?"_ Jack couldn't help but smile.

"We're in Welcome To The Unknown."

Silence, then a new voice.

 _"Hold on, what do you mean we're in Welcome To The Unknown? Isn't that the game we were all playing?"_ Oh, it was Nate. That only proved the theory.

_"Nate? You're in this mess too?"_

_"Yeah, along with Mat."_

Oh great. Just perfect. At least they didn't have to go searching. Well, they did, but they didn't have to search to talk.

_"Jack?"_

Jack hadn't realized he forgot to say anything, but Mark did.

"Sorry about that, zoned out." If he could see Mark, he had to be rolling his eyes right now.

 _"Well, just try not to-"_ Nate was cut off by a lot of static. Someone, possibly him, was screaming at something to go away, he must've been struggling, and then silence.

"Nate? Mat? Are either of you there?"

 _"Be quiet Jack."_ This time, Mat answered.  _"Or else it might find me."_ And although a million questions were running through his head, and he wanted to ask what happened to Nate, Jack obeyed and stayed quiet, as did Mark. They waited for a long time, not daring to even push the button to try and talk. Then, after a while, Mark asked a question, which was probably a bad idea.

_"What happened to Nate?"_

_"Something came in here and got him. So basically, I have no clue."_

Hopefully nothing bad. Now Jack just had to find a way out of the room. He spotted a key underneath the bed, just out of his reach. The room was mostly empty, aside from a crowbar and a backpack. He reached for the backpack first, all it had was a note.

_Okay, I don't know who is going to read this, and I know it's probably too late. Whatever you do, if you hear breathing that isn't your own, do not move and do not talk. If it hears you, I don't know, and if you find this, then I'm probably either out or gone forever. Just don't let that thing catch you, or you won't be able to get out._

_Please, try to stay alive, I don't want this cursed game taking anymore lives, especially if this gets to Youtubers._

The note ended there, and Jack knew everyone was in danger. Well, obviously, but the way it constantly kept mentioning something, presumably a monster, hinted too much about what happens if you're caught. He kept the backpack for future use.

Then he took the crowbar, a weapon and a reliable way of opening a lot of locked doors. He already knew what to do with it, but checked the door anyway, and to his surprise, it actually opened.

"I don't actually know why I expected that to lock from the outside. Video game logic, I guess."

He still grabbed the key, using the crowbar to reach it and bring it back. "Wonder what you unlock..." 

 Heading outside the room in search of his friends, he listened as closely as he could. Not just for them, but for  _it._ Whatever it was, it was definitely bad. He'd put the crowbar away, somewhere in reach in case he needed to use it.

The hallways were long, so much so that he wondered if they ever ended. He kept checking any rooms for his friends, and if they were locked, he tried the key, it never worked.

That is, until he found a door that was locked, and the key actually worked.

Inside, was Nate. He was alive, trapped, but alive, and that's all Jack was worried about.

"Nate!"

The musician looked up to meet the Irishman's eyes. One of the first things Jack noticed was the purple tear streaks running down Nate's face. It kinda reminded him of the puppet from FNAF. It also reminded him of...

Oh no.

He made a move to run to the door, before the person who was definitely not Nate launched forward, pinning Jack against the wall easily. His arm was just out of reach from the crowbar, so now he had no plan. He struggled as much as he could against their grip, which was way too strong.

"You know, if I could, I'd just end this right now. But you're getting off a little lucky. Only a little, because there's no rule that says I can't have any fun." Okay, now he was sure, but how was Natemare real? And if he was, were the others real too?

Before Natemare could do anything though, the tear tracks disappeared, along with his strength. Nate was back in control.

"Nate?" Jack asked, helping the fallen musician to his feet.

"Yeah, and- ow." Fighting against 'Mare had to have taken a lot of strength, because Nate was weaker than he should've been. "He's way too strong."

"Come on, we have to find Mark and Mat." Jack said, once Nate didn't seem like he was going to collapse if the Irishman let go of him.

They mostly walked in silence, but then Nate stopped.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, turning around. Nate was frozen in place, and suddenly threw a music box on the ground.

"Take it and RUN!" The purple tracks were back, along with Natemare. Jack hurried, grabbed the music box and ran for his life, with the alter ego hot on his tail.

He didn't know what the music box was for, not even sure why Nate gave it to him.

_Answers later, run now._

He started to run out of breath, and his lungs felt as though they were on fire, but he kept going, until he ducked into a room and barricaded himself in, with Natemare pounding on the door. Eventually, either Nate took back over or his ego got bored, either way, he left.

"Jack?"

He almost jumped six feet in the air, still whipping out his crowbar in case. He spun to face the person who spoke and accidentally knocked them over.

"Wait, it's just me!" Mark yelled, his hands up as though to protect his face.

"Mark?" Jack put the crowbar away, happy to see a familiar face for once.

"Yeah. Have you seen Nate or Mat around?" Jack looked away.

"I ran into Nate earlier, but he kept switching between himself and Natemare." Mark blinked. "Who's Natemare?" He asked, before realizing. "Oh, never mind. Alter ego. What about Mat?" Jack shrugged.

"Don't have a clue."

"Great, and now we're stuck who knows where with who knows what?" He threw his arms up in frustration, and Jack had to shift a little to avoid being hit in the face.

"Mark, raging like this isn't going to help anything." And here Jack was trying to keep a level head, and also trying not to anger Mark at the same time. "We'll find them." Mark relaxed, and didn't seem to be as angry as he was before.

"Thanks Jack."

The banging on the door was back, but more frantic than before, meaning either Nate had taken back control or it was Mat trying to run away from Natemare. Jack hesitantly opened the door, and the latter was the case, as Mat ran in immediately after and slammed the door shut.

He had to have been running for a long time, he was out of breath and his hair was disheveled.

"You guys do realize I can easily break this door down, right?" 'Mare asked from the other side, and sure enough, the door almost broke. Mark and Jack actually had to step in and help Mat keep the door closed.

"Jack, did Nate give you a music box?" Mark asked, even he was struggling, and he was probably the strongest of the three.

"Yeah, why?" The door was cracking.

"Wind it up, he gave it to you for a reason." Jack pulled it out, momentarily forgetting the danger on the other side, and wound it up. Once he was finished, a song began to play.

Natemare screamed, and the banging stopped. He hit his back on the wall opposite the door. The song continued playing, until the screaming stopped.

More questions raced through Jack's mind. Was Nate back in control?

The door opened, slowly. When he walked in, Jack looked at his face. No tear tracks, it was Nate.

"Nate!"

Once again, he was weaker than before, from fighting. Another question, why now? Why not before they came in the game?

Better yet, why only after Nate was caught?

* * *

Nate had explained.

Apparently, the only reason Natemare could take control now was because of something that happened while everyone was separated. The music box was the only way to weaken the ego. That last part everyone seemed to have in fanfictions involving Natemare, it was the music itself that weakened him.

"So if we get caught..." Mark trailed off, their egos weren't the only problem they had. Nate nodded.

"Chances are, you'll be in the same position with your egos."

"So what's our goal here? To survive? Escape?" The more likely option was to figure out what was going on, and then escape.

"Maybe both. And figure out what the heck is going on." Nate, Mark, and Mat blinked, before turning to Jack.

"What?" Mark asked, frowning.

"I said figure out what the heck is going on, why?" The looks continued.

"Were you trying to swear?"

"I did...?"

"No, you said heck." Nate was leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets, he was the first to drop his stare.

"Of course they wouldn't let me swear..." Jack sighed. The others two dropped their stares as well.

There was a knock at the door.


	2. Missing Player

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's all fun and games, right?
> 
> Well, yeah, until one of your players goes missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yay, looks like I haven't abandoned this story! Or wrote one chapter, called it a day, and shoved it aside.

All four players were in the same room, there wasn't supposed to be anyone else.

So who knocked at the door then?

Several seconds that felt like minutes passed before Mark hesitantly opened it...

No one was there.

"Well that's weird, who knocked?" They listened for any sign of something else, but nothing.

Well, at least until the lights went out, then they heard something.

Most of it was Mark screaming at the top of his lungs. A little more was a high pitched ringing that came from seemingly nowhere.

And when the lights came on, Mark was nowhere to be seen. The high pitched ringing also disappeared.

The three other players were shocked. Two main questions that needed to be answered. For one, what even happened?

And who turned the lights off?

Deciding to figure that out later, all three of them ran to try and see where Mark could've gone.

"If I had to guess from the high pitched ringing, I'd say Darkiplier." Jack figured it was the only lead they had. Even if it wasn't, he still somehow knew exactly where he was going.

"Makes sense. But what if it isn't?" Jack didn't answer Nate's question, partially because he had no plan and partially because he didn't have an answer.

They stopped at the room Jack found Nate in, but nobody was inside. However, something did change, mainly the code that was on the wall.

_6/28/1989_

"Wait, June 28th? Isn't that Mark's birthday?" Mat asked, and yes, it was.

"Maybe it's the clue we need to get him back, who knows?" Nate said, writing down the code on a notepad.

"Where'd you get that from?" Jack asked, staring at said notepad with curiosity.

"Found it in the room I spawned in."

"Oh."

Nate smiled, being the first to exit, followed by the others. "Now we just have to find a lock where this comes in handy."

They continued walking for a long time, only breaking their silence to either make a well timed joke (Jack), or have a theory about this place and try not to end the sentence with Game and Film Theory's outro (Mat).

Finally, after what could've been either an hour or half an hour of walking, they found a door with a seven digit code. Jack entered the date, June 28th 1989, and sure enough, the door opened.

"About time." Mark said from the other side, leaning against the side wall. The room was small, and there was another code on the opposite wall.

_2/7/1990_

"Of course, are all the code's our birthdays?" Jack asked to no one in particular.

"I guess so. Wait, the code to the door was my birthday?" Nate nodded.

Heading back to the safe room, and trying to get Mark to answer questions about what even happened, the four players quickly needed a plan.

* * *

Said plan involved finding out a lot of things.

Mat found the front door earlier, but it had five key holes, and Jack already knew the key he had wouldn't work, unless it worked for several doors.

"I found one while I was in that room, but I'm not sure if it's one of the ones we need." Jack smirked, Mark still pronounced room the same way he did in Danger in Fiction.

"No point in not trying, but I think we should try and find all five first." Jack handed Mark the backpack for him to put the key in.

"That sounds like a good plan. The question is, where do we find them?" The four Youtubers thought about the rooms that could have a key in them.

"Maybe the rooms with codes? Or ones that are locked?" That was an answer, but only until it was proved wrong.

"That could be it. I mean, it makes sense, right? The locked rooms are always where secrets hide."  _Not always,_ Jack thought, but most of the time that rule applied.

"Not always, but that is a good point." 

 "Only point we have so far, and I'm taking it." The lights dimmed, but didn't go out completely.

**"Perfect."**

They flickered.

.. - .----. ... / - .. -- . / ..-. --- .-. / ..- ... / - --- / .... .- ...- . / ..-. ..- -. .-.-.-

The long string of morse code played out, in a loop, until someone said the words it translated into.

"It's time for us to have fun."

Lightning flashed outside, all but scaring the four players.

"Something tells me their idea of fun is way different than ours."

Mark yelled, and the high pitched ringing from earlier was back. When he spoke, his voice echoed.

 **"That was just too easy. I hope I didn't interrupt something important."** And a part of him didn't care. Mark- No, Darkiplier stood proudly in front of the not scared players. 

At least, they weren't scared yet.

Then the window shattered and the three Youtubers screamed.


	3. Tasks and Keys (Only one doesn't help)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First it was Natemare, now Darkiplier?
> 
> How can this game get any worse?
> 
> How about the remaining players being stuck in a seemingly neverending nightmare?
> 
> This is not good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this up, I got busy with a few things.

Why did the window break?

Did Dark break it? Or maybe Natemare was back?

Whatever the answer, they might never know.

* * *

_Someone walked through the empty halls. They weren't empty, there was something in there with her. The shadow followed her, going closer and closer, until she turned around. It faded._

_That was close, she thought. One second longer and it would've caught her, and she would've become one of_ them.  _She was scared, no doubt, but she had to find those keys, all five of them, and get this game recalled before someone was seriously hurt. Especially Youtubers._

_The shadow was behind her again, but the game made it unfair by starting it exactly where it was before, right behind her, and it leaped._

_She screamed, quickly trying to get it off, but the darkness was already starting to take over. The backpack was left in another room, along with the note she prayed no one would ever find._

_Not like it would matter._

_You don't get a chance to talk to people when you're stuck in a video game for eternity._

* * *

One word; terrified.

That was the only word that could possibly describe Jack right now.

He'd been given a task.

_Make it to the other building._

Now, you might be thinking, 'What's so terrifying about that?'

The fact that he was practically on a skyscraper going to a shorter building, they were connected by a thin rope.

If you know Jack, you'd also know that he happens to be scared of heights.

 The letter did mention that the game would simulate the player's fears, but this was taking it a step too far.

He really wished he didn't play it, because that led to all sorts of mistakes. Now everything he did would either make things easier or a lot harder. Not just for him, for the others. Because that's how life worked, right? You do stuff, and it affects you and the people around you.

This isn't what you'd usually think of when you hear that.

Tentatively, he took one step, one tiny step on the rope...

And screamed as he almost fell right off the edge.

Now he was gripping onto the rope for dear life, unable to climb back up to where he was. He quietly cursed as he slowly made his way to the other side. He actually got lucky, he was facing the sky instead of the ground.

_Now, it only took less than an hour, but it felt like way longer._

_I actually wonder what would've happened had he not been fast enough to grab the rope._

* * *

Surprisingly, Dark didn't expect Mark to be strong enough to gain back control. Now he had his own task to do.

_Run and don't get caught from the darkness._

What?

 He didn't understand what it meant until he got the feeling he was being watched. He wasted no time turning around and took off down the long hallway, not once stopping or looking back. He was definitely out of breath by the time he reached the third turn, but he kept running.

That thing behind him was fast, and Mark wasn't about to take any chances by slowing down. He heard someone calling his name, and it took a moment for him to realize it was Amy. He did turn around, only to remember how Dark was a manipulator and she wasn't actually there.

When he got out of this mess-

He stopped.

He didn't want to, there was a wall where he was supposed to go.

And he had a new quest.

_Find a way to escape._

* * *

 Honestly, what were they even thinking?

Sure, being in a horror game was bad, but falling into a common cliche of horror is even worse.

That cliche being splitting up, and Nate and Mat did exactly that. (Wow, I accidentally rhymed.)

Of course they weren't alone, and of course their task wasn't easy, all falling into a trap that nobody knew about. 

_Find the others and escape._

And how exactly were they supposed to do that when they had no idea where the others even were? The only reason they split up was so they could cover more ground, and they still had their radios anyway in case of an emergency.

What Nate didn't expect is for something to be chasing him right now, and for him to accidentally drop his somewhere where it more than likely wouldn't be found.

What Mat didn't expect was for the separate paths they went down to abruptly connect and meet up with the same  _thing_ that was chasing Nate.

What neither of them expected was for Mark and Jack to suddenly appear out of nowhere once they got to what was now dubbed the 'Safe Room.' Jack looked slightly pale and terrified and Mark was clearly out of breath. Both of them silently held up a key.

One actually did fit the front door, at least from what they could tell, but the other didn't. Jack was the one that would help open it.

So, one key was found, only four left. They might have two if they tried the other key that Mark had, but until then, only one.

Just a few more left, and now Nate had an idea of where to find one.

"Let's head back to the room Mark was in, the very first one."


	4. Trapped with Anti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now we have three.
> 
> It's just a matter of time before we get our fourth ego.
> 
> Will Mat survive as the only one without an ego? If so, for how long?
> 
> Only time will tell...

"Why would you want to head back there?" Mark asked, eyeing the musician curiously.

"And where's your radio?" Nate had it in his pocket usually, but it wasn't there. When he realized what happened, he mentally facepalmed.

"I may or may not have dropped it while running." And what that actually meant was 'I dropped it and I don't think we're getting it back.'

"Great. Perfect. Absolutely perfect." Unlike the others, Mark wasn't hiding his irritation too well. No one said anything about it. "And you didn't answer my question. Why do you want to head back to the room I started in?"

"Just a theory I had. You might've missed something, because I certainly did." Before anyone could ask, Nate was already starting to go back.

"Why is this game mostly walking?" No one answered Mat's question.

Actually, while they were all thinking that, no one else said it out loud.

The lights flickered. Once, twice, and then they stopped. Along with Nate and Mark. If Nate hadn't walked so far ahead, the other two wouldn't have enough time, because now they had Natemare  _and_ Darkiplier to deal with.

Even then, they barely escaped in time, and ended up splitting up anyway, which they weren't trying to do.

Jack was quickly running out of breath, he needed somewhere to hide. He ducked into a random room, which happened to be his starting room. Strange, because this place was huge, but it seemed like they kept walking (or running) in circles. He didn't hear any footsteps following him, had they both gone after Mat? No, he could've sworn Natemare was following him.

"I swear, if I see one more alter ego-"

Something crashed halfway down the hall, then someone started to appear in the room. It wasn't long before Natemare himself was there. The lights went out.

* * *

Jack woke up in another locked room. It was similar to the ones Nate and Mark were in. The code on the wall was glitching, but it was another birthday.

_11/15/1986_

Mat's birthday, why not? Jack wondered why they hadn't put something else, like a different puzzle. No time to think about that, he'd have to wait for someone to rescue him.

Why hadn't he been captured when Natemare caught him earlier? Jack tried to think back to what the alter ego had said to him. Something about ending something and that he was getting off lucky that time. Maybe this was what he'd been talking about.

Something he actually didn't think about before, who was here before them? Someone unlucky enough to not make it out apparently.

Something glitched, effectively knocking Jack out of his thoughts. Wait, was Anti starting to take over? And where did that assumption come from?

Well, mostly the fact his hair was starting to turn green, and the glitches continued. Great. He hoped Mat was okay.

Three sets of footsteps outside the door caused Jack to sit upright.

"Come on, what was it?" Mark asked in frustration. Maybe if they could hear him...

"February 7th, 1990." Jack said through the door.

"That works. I didn't know we could hear through the door." That was Nate, and Jack couldn't help but smile.

But then the glitches around the room started again, this time not stopping, and growing in intensity. Jack could feel himself slowly growing weaker as he tried to fight Anti off for just a little bit longer.

"Y̶o̴u̵'̷r̸e̶ ̸j̷u̵s̶t̴ ̶d̸e̶l̴a̵y̴i̶n̸g̷ ̷t̵h̸e̸ ̷i̷n̶e̶v̸i̵t̶a̵b̴l̸e̷ ̴J̷a̵c̷k̷.̴" The voice came from inside his head. Mark had typed in the code, but was struggling to get the door open, even with all three of them pulling. Jack attempted to get up to help them, do something, anything, but barely made it off the bed before he passed out.

Someone, Mark, walked in and spotted him, and then the last thing he remembered was being in the safe room with the others talking about something.


	5. Forget About What Happened

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For once, they can laugh and forget what's going on around them and act like everything's okay. They can laugh and joke and do everything they used to be able to do.
> 
> For one minute, they can forget about this mess and just talk.

The plan had worked perfectly until Jack was caught before Mat.

Now, normally this wouldn't be much of a problem, but everything depended on Mat being caught before Jack was.

So now it was time for Plan B.

Maybe it would be enough to stop them, at the very least slow them down. Now all they needed to do was wait until Mat was alone.

* * *

_All of this running was way too much._

_She'd already run out of breath, making it near impossible to escape. She didn't seem to care, or maybe it was the adrenaline, she kept running. That's what the game was mostly about, right? Running away from things and solving puzzles?_

_If she'd been sure about this place's 'respawn' mechanic (She really didn't want to know if it worked or not, she wasn't about to test it), she would care less. But the only other person she'd been with, her sister, had gotten seperated from her a while ago, and while the area did seem huge, it really wasn't._

_That was an hour ago._

_Respawn in video games worked faster than that._

* * *

Nate left a while ago, but at the worst time.

Minutes turned to hours as Mark waited, not daring to leave Jack's side.

He didn't know what happened in that room.

He didn't want to know.

Half an hour after Nate went somewhere (Why didn't he explain? He just up and left.), Mat went to go look for him. Neither had returned yet.

Then, all of a sudden, Nate ran into the safe room, closing the door behind him (Why was it open anyway?)

"Nate?" He sighed.

"Before you say anything, it was the last second and if I waited another minute the chance would be gone." Before Mark could ask what the heck the musician was talking about, he held up a key. One that fit the door.

"That's two."

* * *

Three.

Three, because that's how many minutes he had left. Three, because he saw the third key.

Three, because that's how many monsters were chasing him.

Looks like the players and the egos weren't the only ones in the house. Of course they weren't, it was never easy. Not in this type of game. Not in any game for that matter.

Where even was Nate? Mat asked himself several times on his journey. Maybe he's already made it back and he was with Mark and possibly Jack (if/when the Irishman woke up) looking for him. Maybe they were even more split up than he thought, and everyone was on their own. He wished Steph was here.

Steph.

Oliver.

That was another question that remained unanswered until they got back home ( _If_ they made it home). Was time frozen at home? Was everyone looking for them right now?

He hoped so.

But he also hoped not.

Conflicting thoughts were the worst.

* * *

Mark hated this.

He hated it so much, the wall he punched a hole in knew that all too well. It wasn't a very hard wall, but the force of the punch still left his hand aching with ignored pain. He didn't have the time to pay attention to it.

Not when his friends were in danger.

Not when  _he_ was in danger.

He just wanted to get back home. He just wanted to see Amy, Ethan, Tyler and Chica again.

He just wanted to be out of this game.

"Mark?"

The familiar Irish accent was the only clue he needed. Mark turned around to see if he was just hearing things, but there he was, sitting up, staring at him with a small grin.

"Jack!" Relief flooded through him as he ran forward, not seeming to care about his more than likely bruised hand and nearly tackled Jack in a hug.

"I'm fine you doofus." Mark looked up at his friend with a playful glare.

"Well excuse me for worrying about you." Then, muttering under his breath, but still loud enough for Jack to hear, "Irish potato."

"Hey!"

They laughed. For the first time since they got there, they finally had a moment of peace where they could just talk and relieve the tension. They could laugh and joke and everything else they could before all of this happened.

And for a moment, just one moment, they could forget about the mess they were in.


	6. Madpat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I'm finally back to writing this! Okay, so at the end, I'm going to ask you guys a question, but that'll have to wait.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

If only Nate and Mat could have as much fun as Jack and Mark were.

After dealing with so many problems (Unsurprisingly, Natemare was the cause of most of them), both men just needed a place to  _calm down for once because everything was happening at once._

Right now was one of the few moments of peace they could get, and even that didn't last for long when Mat heard someone singing.

He was so sick of running away because Jack had the music box and this place was so confusing.

He hadn't told anyone else about this, but he was working on something very important, hence why he'd been out here in the first place. He knew full well where the safe room was from where he was, but he needed one more key.

They were so close to getting out now, just two more keys and they were done.

If only the path to getting said keys was easier to follow.

* * *

Jack, now in better condition, had explained to Mark and Nate about everything that happened in the room, the glitches, Anti, everything, even the code.

"I find it so aggravating that every code so far has been one of our birthdays, even though the game was supposed to be 'completely randomly generated,' I believe the letter said." Mark used air quotes around the 'completely randomly generated' bit.

"That, plus the fact they used my fear of heights to their advantage." Jack accidentally said that out loud, to which he received wide-eyed stares for.

"Wait, they did  _what?_ " Mark narrowed his eyes, clearly enraged at this.

"My task to get that key."

Both Jack and Nate had to stop Mark from punching another hole in the wall.

* * *

He wasn't entirely sure if the monsters were gone yet, and didn't really want to check. The fourth key was right there. If he could reach a little further, he would be able to grab it, but that  _thing_ was staring him down.

It was trying to make sure he didn't leave, a version of camping, if it could be called that. He tried his best to be as still as possible.

And just when Mat thought he was safe, the shadowy monster  _leaped_ at him.

He woke up in another one of those blasted rooms, but instead of a code, there was writing on the walls.

_Now there's four of us._

_Four players and four egos._

_Being trapped in these rooms have given us strength._

_Now we can have some fun of our own._

_But not just in the game, that wouldn't be any fun._

_I wonder how poor Stephanie would react if Oliver suddenly went missing..._

_You already know who I am,_

_-Madpat_

Mat paled, but not only was he terrified...

He was enraged.

_"You better not hurt Steph or Oliver."_

* * *

It had been way too long.

The three Youtubers present had a plan now. It was half-formed, but it was still a plan.

For starters, they needed to find Mat. Then they could focus on getting the other two keys. Unless he'd already found one, or both, that made matters easier.

Wandering through the halls and preying they wouldn't have to deal with any of the alter egos, someone almost made the  _brilliant_ suggestion of splitting up before shutting their mouth.

Even then, they didn't even have to, because a second afterwards, an enraged yell that could only belong to Mat for multiple reasons came from the other end of the hallway and they ran towards it.

When Mark had asked what was wrong, because Mat seemed like he'd been crying, the latter silently pointed to the wall and the other three read the message.

No one stopped Mark from punching the wall.

* * *

Everything about this place screamed danger.

They'd come to that conclusion before, but now it was the primary reason they wanted out.

That, and the fact that there were now  _four_ alter egos after them.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Sigh) I wish this could've come sooner. Oh well, now I've got that done.
> 
> Oh yeah, the question.
> 
> Should I try to get into a weekly update schedule or just do whenever? Let me know in the comments.
> 
> -MidnightLegend


	7. Four, Five, Door, Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it.
> 
> The final stretch.
> 
> The last two keys are found.
> 
> But the journey isn't over.

Those stupid keys were all they needed.

Both of them, sitting somewhere, while their egos sat and laughed at their failures.

Just the keys and the door, that should've been it.

No, no it wasn't. It never was.

That truth had been learned the hard way.

* * *

In the silence to wherever they were going (because at this point, they didn't know or care where they went, so long as they found at least one key), Jack noticed something.

"Why hasn't Anti shown up yet?" He asked, and would've swore when he did had the censors not been on.

"What do you mean?" Either Mark didn't get the point that was clearly stated or wanted a different answer.

"Didn't Natemare and Darkiplier show up really soon after you two were out of those rooms- and I now realize I just made a huge mistake." Jack cut his earlier sentence off.

They stopped.

The glitches were back, worse than before, and it gave Jack a headache. Out of the corner of his eye, Mark noticed the way Nate seemed frozen in place, while motioning for Mat to back up. They both did so.

Just in time too.

They had to start sprinting, because Anti was  _fast._ Natemare, while not as fast, still traveled quicker because of the glitch, who loved that ability way too much.

Then Mare started singing.

Mat was frozen in place.

Mark didn't notice.

* * *

_It's only a nightmare and soon we'll be set free._

The safe room.

That's where he was, sitting on the floor looking at the ceiling with disinterest.

Mark hated being alone. It's why he set out to find Jack so quickly, he hated this place and wanted nothing more than to get out.

If he was selfish, he would've left them already. He would've found all the keys and left.

But he wasn't selfish.

He never has and never will be.

_And soon we'll be set free._

Mark decided to get up. He didn't really get the chance to look around the safe room yet, not like he'd find anything interesting.

He'd never been so happy to be wrong in his life.

Looking at himself in the mirror (he was a mess, his hair was so messy and he overall looked as though he'd run five marathons without stopping), he noticed a small glint in the corner. He turned around, nothing was behind him.

Well, the game had crazy stuff already, hiding stuff in a mirror couldn't be too far off.

There it was, sitting on it's pedestal, mocking Mark for not finding it before.

The fourth key.

The only problem was the obstacle that stopped Mark from getting it.

First, there was a maze, not too hard, it did take a few tries, but he got it.

Then the small room he was in quickly started to fill up with water.

It slowed him down more than it should've, he'd made it five steps before it was up to his knees.

Another fifteen steps passed, then it was to his shoulders.

He had to dive under.

So he did, swimming as fast as he possibly could, and when he grabbed the key, his vision went black.

Four.

* * *

Key number five.

Not in reach, but Jack was now in the position Mat was in before the room.

The exact same too, except Nate was with him too. The musician was behind the shadow thing, holding the knife Anti almost used on Mat. If it leaped, it would be stopped quickly.

Jack slowly stepped out, trying to ignore the low growl he heard from it, reaching out to try and grab the key...

It tilted it's head at him curiously, before disappearing (Nate hadn't touched it yet, his eyes widened) and reappeared right in front of Jack.

Nate was sent flying to the opposite side of the room, while Jack was in a struggle.

All of a sudden, it started to change shape, Jack eyed the monster with curiosity, not wanting to step any closer.

"Seán?" His heart leapt into his throat. There was no way this was real, but there she was, sitting on the floor in front of him. Nate hadn't gotten up yet, which was worrying by itself.

When he spoke, his voice was quiet, a whisper that might as well have been a yell in the silence.

"Evelien?" She smiled. Even though it was more than likely a trick, he couldn't help but run forward and hug her. For a moment, he forgot about the key, now it was sitting on the floor, abandoned.

As expected, the moment didn't last very long.

Jack had to duck out of the way to avoid the knife, stained red (He didn't want to think about that), that was aimed straight for his head.

"Guess you knew then, thought I had you there. Should've known better." He honestly would've fallen for it if he hadn't seen the transformation himself.

"Guess your shadow should've gone somewhere else to do it's transformation, then you would've gotten me." He retorted, dodging when the same knife was swung.

Then it all went downhill.

He was suddenly trapped in place, courtesy of that shadow, who was now holding the knife again.

"Say goodbye Jack." It said, throwing it one last time.

"JACK!"

Time seemed to slow down as Jack closed his eyes, waiting for the finishing blow.

It never came.

Instead, he was met with a look of surprise on the shadow's face (it was still disguised as Evelien) and one of determination on Nate's. Jack knew why a moment later.

A shield had appeared around him, only dropping once Nate dropped his hand.

And then the knife went flying as the shadow faded.

Jack and Nate stood speechless for a moment, trying to process what just happened. After a while, Jack broke the silence, grabbing the fifth and final key.

"We'll figure that out later, we have to find Mark and Mat." Nate nodded in agreement.

_What just happened?_

* * *

Four and five.

Now that all of them were there, they just needed to get to the front door.

Mat, as expected, knew the way, as he lead the others.

That machine would probably never be finished anyway.

The door unlocked easily, all four of them were ready to get out.

As soon as they stepped outside, the game ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp.
> 
> Next chapter's the epilogue, and then be prepared for a new adventure starring these four again, plus a few others...
> 
> Also, I saved Madpat for a special occasion, hence why he didn't actually appear.


	8. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the end.
> 
> For now at least...
> 
> M̸a̷d̸ ̶a̵n̸d̷ ̵I̸ ̴d̴i̶d̶n̸'̷t̷ ̴h̷a̷v̵e̴ ̴t̴h̸a̵t̸ ̷m̷u̴c̷h̴ ̸f̷u̷n̵ ̶y̶e̷t̵.̸.̴.̸

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I forget to mention Jack and Evelien live together for the sake of this story? I think I did.
> 
> Welp, time for the end.

**Jack**

"Wake up sleepy head!" Evelien called. Jack, stubbornly, stayed asleep.

"But I'm tired..." He said, smiling when his girlfriend groaned.

"There's some coffee downstairs." Jack sat up straight. He blinked, remembering the strange dream he had.

"Alright then, you win. Over coffee, how about I tell you about this weird dream I had?"

Downstairs, as Jack enjoyed some hot coffee, he explained to his girlfriend about what happened, not realizing that it wasn't a dream. Almost as though he couldn't remember.

"-and then as soon as we stepped out, the whole thing ended. So weird." A letter was slipped onto the table.

"Thought you should read that, it's for both of us." Jack picked it up, reading it.

_Jack,_

_It's us again! Hope you enjoyed playing Welcome To the Unknown! We saw your video, so we decided to give you a sneak peak of the sequel, Welcome Back To the Unknown._

_It's more of a DLC than a sequel, since all it adds is a multiplayer mode, but it'll be worth it._

_It can be played as a single player game, but to experience the full effect, we reccomend you play with someone else._

_The others will be playing again as well, bit someone new is coming to join._

_We hope you enjoy,_

_WTTU Team_

"So, should we?" Jack looked up to find Evelien glancing at the letter as well.

A pause.

It seemed like the game in his dream.

But dreams weren't usually real.

"Sure."

"B̴i̶g̸ ̵m̷i̸s̸t̴a̸k̵e̴ ̵J̴a̵c̸k̸.̶.̴.̷"

No one heard the glitchy voice.

* * *

**Mark**

Mark, unlike Jack, woke up on his own.

When he recieved the letter, he gave his friend a call.

"Hey Mark."

"Hey Jack, thought I'd get straight to the point. Did you get some letter talking about this game?"

"Welcome Back To the Unknown? Yeah, Evelien and I were going to play it. Were you?" Mark thought about it for a moment.

That dream was starting to come back, although not in full detail.

What harm could come from playing a game?

"Yeah. I was just about to ask Amy if she wanted to play." As though on cue, his girlfriend walked in at that exact moment. She smiled.

"Hey, next time you try late night gaming and pass out, try to tell me, you had me worried for a moment." Mark gave a thumbs up.

"Alright then, see you later!"

"Bye!"

Mark sighed as Amy came over. He set up the recording equipment to start the game.

He was excited.

He wouldn't be if he knew what was in store.

* * *

**Nate**

Nate decided to take a different route.

He didn't really feel like inviting someone over this early, so he was going to play it by himself. After all, it was only optional, he didn't  _have_ to play with someone else.

A text from Mark interrupted him.

_M: I'm going to assume you got a letter inviting you to play Welcome Back To the Unknown?_

"How does he know?" He almost immediately answered his own question.

_Because he probably did too._

_N: Yeah, you did too?_

About a minute before another response.

_M: Yup. Are you playing with anyone? Before you ask, Jack did too, so yay._

_N: You know, I did think about it, but I think I'm going to play this by myself._

_M: Alright. TTYL._

For just a moment, one moment, Nate could've sworn he heard someone singing one of his songs.

* * *

**Mat**

For a minute, Mat was almost afraid because of something that happened in his dream.

So naturally, the first thing he did was check on Oliver.

Sleeping soundly, good.

Giving a sigh of relief, he then went downstairs, wanting a Diet Coke.

So what if he had an addiction? Diet Coke was awesome.

Stephanie was out somewhere.

A letter had arrived in the mail, but before the theorist could read it, a call came in from Nate.

"Mat!" He was such a dork, but it was too funny to be ignored.

"Hey Nate, what's up?" Mat decided to ignore the dork side of Nate.

"Letter. Welcome Back To the Unknown. Multiplayer. Did you get it?" Mat happened to be taking a sip of his Diet Coke when Nate said that, and almost spit it out.

"Did you have to ask it like that? My floor almost got ruined!" He playfully whined. "But yes, I did get it, and yes, I am planning to play it with Steph." 

"Sorry floor."

Mat actually  _did_ spit his Coke out this time, and Nate knew it.

"R.I.P floor, it was ruined when I made my friend laugh as he spit out his favorite drink."

"You're a dork."

"I know."

They talked for a while before they hung up.

"Well, time to get a mop."

Steph agreed to play when she came home.

* * *

**Felix**

Felix had just finished a call with Jack about the letter when Marzia walked in.

"We'll play it eventually. I'm for multiplayer mode to be released before we do though." He answered almost automatically.

"It has. That's why I'm up here." Felix turned his (rather expensive) chair to face the doorway.

"Really? Well then, time to record and play." The two sat down as Felix started up the game.

"I wonder what this is all about, why Jack seemed so excited for it."

Little did they know, they were going to know why, just not in the way they wanted...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the epilogue!
> 
> So, Welcome Back's cast includes:  
> Jack  
> Evelien  
> Mark  
> Amy  
> Nate  
> Mat  
> Steph  
> Felix  
> Marzia
> 
> Oh man, I'm going to have to keep track of all nine of them.
> 
> This is going to be fun.
> 
> See you next time!


End file.
